How to Stay Motivated to Keep Eating Healthy

Making healthy changes in your life can be challenging. Heck, making ANY change in your life is challenging.

And even using Willpower Systems, you need some level of motivation to achieve your goals.

And that’s what I want to talk about with you today.

If I asked you, “On a scale from 1-10, with 10 being “I’ll do just about anything to make it happen,” how much do you want to slim down to your goal weight?

If you aren’t at least a “9”, then you probably don’t have enough internal motivation to reach your goal.

HOW DO I KNOW THAT?

I have a good friend who is a fitness trainer and weight loss coach.

On the average, he charges around $3,000 for a 12 week program. Before he has a phone call with a prospect, he has them fill out an application form.

Here’s a photo with me and my fitness trainer friend.

On the application form it has a question, which is the same 1-10 question as above.

After talking to hundreds of people who filled out an application, he realized that the only ones who were willing to pay his rate to join his program, were the ones who selected either a 9 or 10 on the application form.

TAKEAWAY -> Unless you’re HIGHLY INTERNALLY MOTIVATED to do what’s necessary to lose weight, you will struggle to be successful.

DO YOU HAVE A “WHY CARD?”

One of the very first things I have a client do is to create a “Why Card.”

A Why Card is a 3X5 card that lists your personal reasons for wanting to lose weight.

I have my clients include TWO TYPES OF REASONS on their Why Cards.

1. Front of Card – Reasons why you HATE being overweight.

and…

2. Back of Card – What you are looking forward to enjoying when you do lose the weight.

I then have my clients read their Why Card EVERY DAY for as long as I am coaching them.

Some people ask why I want them to write down the reasons why they HATE being fat. They tell me that I should just focus on the positive, empowering reasons for losing weight.

My response to that is, Why?

9 out of 10 clients hired me to help them because they were so sick and tired of being overweight, that they FINALLY took the leap of faith necessary to get help.

Why would you want to brush those reasons under the rug and not use them as powerful motivational tools for changing your life?

BUT WHAT ABOUT EXTERNAL MOTIVATIONS?

External motivation, such a receiving rewards or recognition for doing healthy behaviors is important.

But when you take those external motivators away, you have to have internal motivation to keep you going.

All the people I’ve known that have lost a lot of weight and kept it off, have had super strong internal reasons for changing.

And because of that, they stuck to their healthy eating and exercise plan, even when it was uncomfortable or inconvenient to do it.

External accountability, which is a form of external motivation, is effective. But when it’s combined with strong internal reasons for changing, it can nearly guarantee your success.

WHAT IS YOUR INTERNAL MOTIVATION?

Do YOU have strong internal motivators for getting healthy?

Do you hate feeling ugly and fat when you look in the mirror?

Do you hate feeling embarrassed to go swimming or even go to the gym?

Do you hate feeling disgusted with yourself because you’ve let your body go for years?

Do you hate that you don’t have enough energy to play with your kids?

Do you hate feeling unworthy of your partner because of your weight?

Do you hate feeling embarrassed to have photos taken with your friends or family and knowing that you are the “fat one” in the photos?

Do you hate being disappointed in yourself because you’ve lost all self control?

Do you hate feeling scared to go on a plane, to a stadium or to an amusement park for fear of not fitting in the seats?

Do you hate not setting an example of health for your kids and scared that they’ll become overweight because of your example?

OR…

Do you want to spend less time at the doctor’s office?

Do you want to be there for my kids, rather than dying young and leaving them alone?

Do you want to be able to play with my kids for more than a few minutes before I feel exhausted?

Do you want to look in the mirror with confidence about my body?

Do you want to feel more energy throughout the day?

Do you want to be more physically attractive to my spouse?

Do you want to be able to buy fashionable clothes”?

Do you want to finally overcome failure and find the willpower to create lifelong healthy habits”?

Do you want to build some muscles so I look muscular with my shirt off”

Do you want to be a good role model of health for my kids”?

Do you want to show my wife that I can lose weight and be slim”?

Do you want to lower my blood pressure so I don’t wind up getting diabetes”?

Do you want to perform better in the bedroom and enjoy sex more fully”?

THE GREAT NEWS ABOUT INTERNAL MOTIVATION

So how do you create internal motivation?

The good news is that most people already have it. All you have to do is find it, identify it and acknowledge it.

Those who are internally motivated to change, see eating healthy and exercising differently from those who have to be externally motivated.

Instead of seeing it as something they “want” to do or something they “should” do, people with a powerful internal motivation see it as something they NEED TO DO, something they MUST DO, something they HAVE TO DO.

Not for someone else, but for THEMSELVES!

So make your own 3X5 Why Card and identify your own internal motivations. When you do, you’ll feel stronger, more powerful and more ready than ever to make a lifelong commitment to change.

HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP YOU

I can TEACH YOU…

A powerful system for creating lifelong, sustainable healthy habits.

How to useWillpower Systems to help you never quit on your healthy eating plan ever again.

How to force yourself to eat modest portions of food so that you never overeat.

How to start and stick to a consistent exercise plan.

How to create a sensible, SUSTAINABLE meal plan that will help you lose weight safely, simply and without ever going hungry.

How to change how you think about yourself and your relationship with food.